Exclusive: Philanthropist who has been hiding $100 bills in envelopes
around US announces he is coming to UK capital this weekend

The craze that began last month in San Francisco when an anonymous millionaire began hiding cash in envelopes around the city and posting clues of how to find it online is expanding to Europe - with the English capital the first stop.

The Telegraph last week revealed the mystery man behind the idea as Jason Buzi, a 43-year-old real estate investor from California, who along with a handful of wealthy friends, has already left tens of thousands of dollars for people to find.

Mr Buzi, who describes himself as a member of America’s richest one per cent after he made millions “flipping homes”, told the paper the team will hide 20 envelopes around a yet-to-be-decided ‘large park” in central London on Saturday.

Tatiana Ramierez with her lucky find (TWITTER)

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph, he said the “drop” will be made by a British member of their team, who works near Birmingham.

Once all the prizes are hidden he will tweet out cryptic clues from the team’s Twitter account, which uses the handle@HiddenCashand now has more than half a million followers, to help hunters figure out where the money is.

Those who find the envelopes, which will contain around £100 each, are encouraged to share pictures of themselves with their winnings on the social media site.

BIG plans for London. Lots of money coz a pound is worth almost two dollars.

Another drop in Birmingham could follow next week, but the team are yet to confirm.

A man digs the dirt with his bare hands as he looks for the hidden cash (KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/REUTERS)

“We want to see how London goes first and then we’ll decide whether to expand it around the UK,” Mr Buzi said. “Londoners are big Twitter users so I’m sure there will be quite a crowd. You guys seem to love a treasure hunt so it could become a scramble for the money.”

The Israeli-born property developer, who moved to the US as a teenager, has faced criticism for using the medium of Twitter to reach people as he is potentially alienating those that need the money the most.

However, he defended the idea, saying: “I give to charity, but HiddenCash is not about charity, it’s a fun game that brings people together that happens to involve money.

Crowds rush Burbank to find @HiddenCash (TWITTER)

“I tried giving cash out to the needy a couple of years ago, we called it Cash Tomato (where $100 bills were hidden in tomato boxes around San Francisco). A lot of homeless people turned up and a scuffle erupted. I figured it wasn’t the best way to do it, so we experimented and finally came up with HiddenCash.

“Some people who find the cash don’t have any and it means a lot, others don’t even need the money and it’s just a bit of fun.”

They have so far visited Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston, making London the first hunt outside America.

Jason Buzi, the man behind @HiddenCash

Mr Buzi said he has been overwhelmed by the popularity of the giveaways, but also by people’s generosity. Many of the winners have donated the money to charity, some have used it for good deeds, such as buying someone lunch.

He said he thought the hunts had become so popular because it combines people’s love for puzzle-solving with a desire to come together using social media.

Mr Buzi has plans for Paris and Madrid after Britain and said the team would carry on the treasure hunt for as long as six months to a year.

“We want this to be a global movement. We are not trillionaires, but we earned a lot of money in our lives and want to pay it forward, just as we want all the winners to pay it forward too.”